


but not without a fight

by XriotfallingX



Category: Original Work
Genre: High School, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Slow Build, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-27
Updated: 2013-12-03
Packaged: 2017-12-30 08:12:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1016221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XriotfallingX/pseuds/XriotfallingX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reno and Adriel are from different ends of the high school spectrum, but Adriel isn't the typical jock, and Reno has more troubles than the the average slacker. When life throws them at each other it's never smooth, but it's a ride no one will forget.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Against the Grain

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, another thing. This one won't be coming out near as fast as the mobster story, as that has eaten by brain. But this thing has been sitting mostly done on my hard drive for over a year, and I decided to inflict upon it the light of day.
> 
> Title from American Nightmare, by Misfits

_"and he confiscated their club and my rock as further evidence"_

Adriel doesn't really like house parties, but he likes lots of free booze. He really doesn't like being surrounded by all his classmates, but they apparently love him and he’s expected to be at every shindig. Everyday Adriel curses his luck, that the football team sucks enough that the whole school turned their attention to the soccer team instead. Plus, Sara seems determined to be at every party, and what Sara wants, Sara gets, it makes life easier for everyone.

So now he’s hanging out in the living room, trying to talk to Spencer, Jones, and a handful of random people from school over the blaring music. Sara is dancing in the cleared out center of the room, which means she’s kind of swaying and shifting her weight in a group with her girlfriends, looking very uniform in their short skirts and tank tops, drinks in their hands.

Adriel is watching them out of the corner of his eye and snickering to himself at how silly they all look when he sees Sara collide with a small girl who’s dancing with her friend. Dating Sara on and off for the past three years means that, against his will, Adriel is ‘in the know’ on everyone in the school. He recognizes the short girl with black and white hair and her only slightly taller, sandy haired boyfriend as Amy and Reno, sophomore outcasts. As Adriel is cursing himself for knowing these random, gossipy things, Sara’s drink spills down the front of her clingy, overpriced top.

“You fucking bitch!" Sara shrieks and lunges towards Amy, the shy girl merely stumbling backwards, blushing a bright red and stammering out an apology. Adriel starts quickly making his way towards his raging girlfriend, hoping to stop Sara before she attacks the poor girl, verbally or otherwise.

Reno jumps in before Adriel quite gets there, swinging Amy behind himself and snapping, “back the fuck off." Adriel will be the first to admit Sara tends to fly off the handle, so he hurries forward to put his hand on her shoulder, intending to prevent the looming conflict. Adriel is all for avoiding drama if he can help it, admittedly the exact opposite of his girlfriend. Reno turns his bright, burning glare on Adriel and says "hey, call off your bitch." Adriel knows his girlfriend is kind of a crazy bitch, but that doesn't mean people are allowed to _say_  it. He snaps.

The next thing Adriel knows he’s right in Reno’s space, glaring back and biting out, “watch your fucking mouth.” He feels too hot in his worn jeans and light jacket, the heat of the last two shots hitting him in a rush and making everything a little fuzzier, a little brighter.

"Get out of my fucking face," Reno snarls, even though Adriel has two years and a good foot of height on him. Reno is sweating too, even in dark jeans more torn up than Adriel’s and a t-shirt, Adriel can see sweat tracing down Reno’s cheek. Tension builds in the air like static, Adriel’s heart beating in overtime, all his nerves singing.

Adriel, suddenly drunk enough that he _wants_  to get in a fight, steps closer. They're almost nose to nose, despite the fact that Reno has to look way up to accomplish this, and the party is still raging around them. The only exceptions are the few people who're waiting anxiously to see the school's soccer star fight a sophomore. Amy is tugging on Reno's wrist, but he's not backing down and Adriel doesn't need to look to know Sara is standing at his shoulder with that smug look on her pretty face. Randomly, Adriel can't help but notice Reno's eyes, deep green and so clear Adriel can almost see his reflection in them. Adriel is clenching his fists and Reno isn't backing down, the beat of some ridiculous dance song reverberating through Adriel’s head, combining with the tequila burn to make thinking impossible. Damn tequila always makes him punchy.

"Hit him, Cross!" Someone yells, so Adriel punches Reno in his damn, hypnotizing eye. Reno's head snaps back, then forward just as fast, and he catches Adriel with an uppercut right to the chin. Adriel's jaw slams shut and he sees stars. The crowd around them has grown, and all the spectators begin cheering louder and jumping around as the fight actually begins. The small room has become a living mass of shrieks, hollers, and suffocating body heat. Reno's next punch is aimed at his gut, and Adriel is already swinging back.

 

* * *

_and I don't wanna be learned_  
 _and I don't wanna be tamed_

  
Mondays are always strange, seeing half the school wander from class to class nearly unconscious, like a pack of zombies. It's hard for Adriel to recognize them as the group of teenagers who were stumbling, drunk and raucous, around someone's house just a day or two ago. On Mondays, the weekends hardly seem real anymore, but Adriel has the ache in his jaw to remind him what happened.

It's kind of surreal to see Reno again, hanging out in the courtyard during last period. Just seeing him like this, cross legged on one of the planters in a spiderman shirt and jeans even more torn up than the last, Adriel never would have guessed Reno has the meanest right hook of probably anyone in the school that’s not on the weight team. It’s a little strange, knowing this secret. Reno’s focused on the book in his lap, and Adriel is wondering if he should say something or just walk past when Reno looks up and catches his eye.

"Damn," Adriel mutters without meaning to. Reno's left eye is surrounded by an impressive purple color, and it looks like the swelling has only recently gone down.

"Yeah," Reno chuckles, letting his book fall closed, "you got me pretty good." To make the whole situation more surreal, Reno doesn’t seem pissed, he’s just eyeing Adriel’s leather pants like he doesn’t quite know what to think about them.

"You chipped my tooth," Adriel offers, grinning slightly despite himself. He’s a little surprised to find he’s not mad at all either, the whole fight seems stupid and far away in the light of day.

"Really?! Let me see!" Reno drops the book and sits up straight, eager expression on his face. Adriel opens his mouth and points to the missing tip of his canine tooth. Reno laughs again, and Adriel wants to say something else, he's thinking of something to say, but the bell rings and in a heartbeat the courtyard is swarmed with the after school crowd.

Adriel tries to keep track of Reno, still trying to think of something to say. He thinks maybe he’s found the boy’s messy blonde head in the crowd when Jones slings an arm around Adriel’s shoulders, forcing the taller boy to slouch down to his level. He begins dragging Adriel in the direction of the athletic buildings, saying “c’mon, if we’re late again Coach with shit a kitten.”

Adriel can’t help snickering at Jones’ word choice. “Speak for yourself, I’m never late,” Adriel says, shrugging Jones’ arm off and standing up straight. Jones rolls his eyes and huffs, and Adriel feels a hand on his head, messing up his short, messy fauxhawk. “Hey!” He complains jerking his head to the side to see Spencer smirking at him.

“We know, Super Star,” Spencer says, shoulder checking Adriel playfully. Of all his nicknames around the school, Adriel hates that one the most and Spencer knows it.

“Race you to the locker room,” Jones says as the three boys round the science building, the goal only a short sprint across dead grass used as overflow parking.

“No way you can run in that,” Spencer says, eyeing Adriel’s pants and thick green army jacket. Adriel smirks, weighing his own clothes against Spencer’s track pants and Jones' jean shorts.

“You’re on,” Adriel says confidently and takes off, glad that he wore his black tennis shoes instead of his heavy boots today. He beats Spencer to the building by a second or two, Jones not long after. They complain and accuse Adriel of cheating, and he laughs and compares them to his grandma. Life continues as usual.

For a week, Adriel is hyper aware of Reno anytime the boy is within sight. He tells himself he's watching the bruise around Reno's eye fade, and doesn't think about it too hard. Life goes on, Sara keeps him busy as a top competitor for neediest girlfriend ever, and soccer practice is picking up intensity as the fall season comes to an end. Life continues as usual.

 

* * *

_I maintain against the grain,_  
 _here labelled as a lunatic,_  
 _sequestered and content_

  
  
The next time Adriel talks to Reno, it's the last day of finals before Christmas break. Adriel is sitting outside the athletics building, listening to his iPod and waiting for Coach Anderson to finish yelling at someone so Adriel can help him get all the gear out of the small shed and then go the fuck home already. Reno scares the shit out of him, popping into his line of sight while he's focused on zipping up his warm, puffy jacket over athletic shorts and a thin t-shirt. Reno chuckles when Adriel startles, and then apologizes.

"What're you listening to?" Reno asks, idly. He’s got a black and white striped hoodie over black jeans, making him look like an escaped convict roaming the school.

"Rancid, Time Bomb." Adriel answers. He has to stick his foot out and step on his soccer ball as it tries to roll away in a sudden gust of wind, the fur lining the hood of Adriel’s jacket blowing around and tickling his neck and cheek.

Reno looks impressed as he shoves his slightly red fingers in his hoodie pocket, shoulders hunched against the chill. "Didn't figure you for the old school punk type."

"Didn't figure you for the hanging out by the athletic building type." Adriel replies. From what Sara and her pack of girl-clones have gossiped, Reno is more like the hanging out by the art building type. Or the hanging out behind the track smoking type.

"Nah," Reno makes a face to demonstrate just how much he doesn't want to be here, "I need to turn in this extra credit or fail History."

"Coach Turnski?" Adriel asks, guessing just by the tone of Reno’s voice. Coach Turnski has an effect on people, one easily recognized by those who have met him.

"Yeah." Reno says, still in that tone like he’s talking about moldy tuna sandwiches or sun-roasted garbage. The look on Reno’s face makes Adriel snicker, his nose scrunched up and his lips twisting in disgust, making the stud in the center of his lower lip catch the light and flash for an instant.

"Bummer," Adriel says and Reno nods seriously. "You should hurry, he likes to leave early.” Adriel knows this because he was also in the football coach’s class two years ago, and he almost missed the end of the soccer season because of the man’s unfortunate habit of not keeping to his own office hours.

"Okay, see ya," Reno waves and turns to go, then turns back and fixes Adriel with an incredibly open look, the wind blowing all his shaggy golden hair out of his eyes for the first time. _Green_ , Adriel thinks, thrown off balance by Reno’s eyes in the afternoon sun. "What's your first name?" Reno asks.  
  
"Um, Adriel," He replies, blinking several times to clear his suddenly foggy mind.

"Why do you go by Cross?" Reno asks, and Adriel shrugs. The music from the headphone over one ear adds a surreal feeling to the conversation.

"Just what everyone calls me," he says. Because that’s what it says on my jersey, he doesn't say. Reno nods, then turns and hurries into the building without another word. Weird, Adriel thinks to himself and returns to waiting, turning the music way up on his iPod.

 

* * *

_every night I stalk around until I find my keep_

  
  
Adriel doesn't begin his New Year's Eve with the intention of bringing Reno home. In fact, he has every intention of bringing Sara home and having lots of awesome New Year's sex with her. Unfortunately, she decides halfway through the night that she's pissed at him.

"I don't understand," Adriel says, fingers of one hand pressed to his forehead. In the other hand he has a plastic cup of brightly colored punch, and he can only hope it's as strong as it was at Jackson's last New Year's party.

"Of course you don't," Sara snaps. She has tears in the corners of her eyes, but Adriel’s pretty sure they're the fake kind. "You never understand Cross, that's the whole problem!" With that she storms off, he three slutty minions following close behind. Adriel is feeling very unfriendly towards her 'best friends' at the moment; he has no doubt in his mind that they're behind this last little fight. She'll get over it; she always does, sooner or later. Adriel goes to play a couple rounds of beer pong with some guys from his team, perfectly happy to enjoy the party with his teammates rather than Sara and her mood swing of the night.

At eleven thirty, it occurs to Adriel that he should probably go looking for his girlfriend, if he wants to still have one this next year. She's not in the living room, or the dining room, and he's heading into the kitchen when someone calls "Adriel!" It's been so long since someone non-family called him by his first name that Adriel actually stumbles over nothing and almost crashes into a freshman who’s wrapped around a lamp. After eyeing the freshman worriedly for a second, Adriel determines that she’s perfectly fine, just really enjoying rubbing her cheek on the porcelain surface. Adriel giggles a little at her, but he’s pretty drunk too, and he may have spent five minutes transfixed by the light switch earlier, so he can’t judge. He hears his name again and turns and see Reno, waving wildly and shambling towards him with a bottle of Jägermeister in one hand.

"Hey!" Reno greets when he's closer, and then holds out the bottle. "Drink me! Do it!" Reno is wobbling on his feet, swaying this way and that, obviously already drunk. So is Adriel though, and if he had to guess he’d say that they’re on about the same level.

"You called me Adriel," he says, a bit goofy, and accepts the bottle. Jäger is tasty.

"Well that's your name," Reno says, face dropping into a concerned look, like maybe Adriel forgot, and it makes him laugh. "It is!" Reno insists, "What’re you doing, laughing at your own name?"

Adriel waves the question off and takes a big drink from the bottle before handing it back. "Where's your girlfriend? Amy, right?" Adriel asks after swallowing down the thick liquor.

"She's not my girlfriend," Reno says with a snort, staring intently at the bottle in his hands before suddenly downing half of the remainder in one go. Adriel is duly impressed. "She's got a cold, too sick to party," Reno says once he’s swallowed, voice rough. It makes him sound older. "So where's your girlfriend?"

Adriel shrugs and snickers, saying "I lost her."

"That's terrible!" Reno says, but he's laughing too.

"Fuck it, guess we’re off again," Adriel declares, and then proceeds to usher in the New Year with Reno, both of them still standing in the front hallway and determined to kill the bottle before the countdown ends. Adriel is drunk enough to let himself wonder if maybe this is symbolic or meaningful or some shit. Until Lamp Girl starts vomiting into the open top of the lamp, and then they get the fuck out of there and the thought wanders off.

An hour later finds them under the kitchen table with a bottle of rum Adriel stole from Jackson under the guise of being helpful because 'a host should never be the first to pass out.' The thought wanders suddenly back into Adriel’s head and when Reno finishes his story about throwing up off a Ferris wheel, Adriel finds himself asking “so, do we gotta be friends this year?” with a lopsided smile.

"But of course," Reno says, grinning wide as well, "we gotta be best friends forever. Obviously.”

"Well shit," Adriel says with a heavy sigh that makes Reno laugh and punch him in the shoulder, but the whole time he's thinking idly that it wouldn't be so bad. Someone as different and wild as Reno, life would certainly be interesting. Reno just grins some more and sneakily steals the forgotten bottle of Captain Morgan from Adriel’s grip. Reno looks like he's about to say something else, but then the bottle slips out of his hands and he scrambles to pick it up. Reno's shaggy blonde hair falls away from the back of his neck when he has to stretch to grab the rolling bottle, and Adriel notices the small, feathery wings tattooed there. "I like your tattoo," Adriel blurts, brain to mouth filter completely gone. He doesn't usually get this drunk at random parties, but he finds he doesn't mind so much.

"Which one?" Reno asks, his attention solely focused on trying to get the lid off the stubborn alcohol. At that point, a group of hammered juniors stumble in and start fawning over Adriel, asking all the same stupid questions and saying all the same stupid things, and he loses his train of thought. Once they've gotten over meeting the school celebrity and wandered off again in search of somewhere to smoke their joint, Adriel and Reno start playing reds and blacks with a deck of cards the intoxicated students had left behind. “So, should I feel special?” Reno asks, looking up at Adriel from under his eyelashes while he shuffles the deck.

“What for?” Adriel asks, and then says “black.” The card that Reno flips over is red, so Adriel grabs the bottle from Reno and the shot glass they had found… somewhere. He takes a shot, and by this point it barely even burns.

“I get to hang out with the school’s star, lucky me,” Reno says, eyes still downcast. Adriel doesn't like the tone of his voice, vaguely self deprecating, and it’s not a good look for him. “Red,” Reno says, and flips over a red card. He looks up at Adriel expectantly.

“Don’t call me that,” Adriel says, probably sharper than he means to. Reno watches him intently, like there’s something he’s trying to puzzle out.

“Why not? Are you not proud to be the thrill of your school?” Reno asks, holding the deck of cards up as a reminder.

“Black,” Adriel says automatically, and Reno flips over another red card. Adriel pours the shot and says “I didn't ask to be some popular kid, I just like soccer.” He then tosses back the shot, like a period on the whole conversation, and when he sets the glass down Reno looks somehow pleased.

“Black,” Reno says, and flips over yet another red card. He takes the bottle and shot glass from Adriel, who is distracted with the trend in cards.

“What the fuck is going on here?” Adriel demands as Reno takes his shot, “you suck at shuffling.”

Reno sets the glass down coughing and laughing, “Fuck you, I do not.”

Once all the rum is gone, the party is pretty much over and Reno is pretty much unconscious, leaning against the cabinets with his eyelids at half mast. Adriel leaves him where he is, half sprawled across the kitchen tile, and goes on a slow, stumbling search of the house on the off chance that Sara is still there. As he'd pretty much expected she's gone, and Adriel finds himself in the kitchen again, wondering what to do with Reno. He could leave him where he is, or drag him to the living room just in case there's an empty couch, or-

Reno cracks one eye open and looks up at Adriel. The grin that spreads across his face is sincere and warm, and Adriel finds himself manhandling Reno into the passenger seat of his car.

"Where do you live?" Adriel asks, sitting in his car in front of Jackson’s house, mentally preparing himself to drive. Hopefully well enough to avoid any trouble on the way to wherever Reno needs to go. Reno mutters something unintelligent and goes quiet. "What?" Adriel demands.

"Munchkins!" Reno insists and then starts to giggle, eyes half lidded and dark in the shadows of the streetlight. His hair is a golden mess standing up in all directions against the window.

"Awesome,” Adriel mutters, curiously warm despite the winter air. So instead of bringing his girlfriend home for some sexy fun, he's helping a totally shitfaced boy up his stairs and then shoving him onto the couch in his bedroom. Adriel is pretty impressed with himself. He wishes someone was here to see how well he was functioning while this drunk, and then spaces out for a minute wondering what his teammates will think of the whole thing. Mocking will surely be in store, probably some gay jokes, Adriel finds himself suddenly dreading seeing them again. Strange, because he’s always gotten along fairly well with the whole team.

"G'night," Reno slurs and Adriel snaps out of his thoughts. He slurs something along the same lines before tumbling thankfully into his bed and passing out.

Despite drunken ramblings about imminent friendships, Adriel wakes up to a note that says

 

  
_thanks for the couch,_  
 _Reno_

  
_PS your mom makes_  
 _awesome muffins_

and then he doesn't see the boy again for nearly two months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyrics in this part:  
> -Night of the Living Rednecks, Dead Kennedys  
> -I Don't Wanna be Learned/I Don't Wanna be Tamed, Ramones  
> -Against the Grain, Bad Religion  
> -Mommy Can I go Out and Kill Tonight, Misfits


	2. Sometimes at the Edge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates for this will probably be a little slower from now on, all I have written is bits and pieces from here on out. But then again, this chapter here was out much faster than expected, so who knows.

_laughing with peers forget your years,_

_then be on your way but don't forget,_

_all the while that you've crossed the social mile_

_and a million days is worth one good laugh_

 

 

"Sara," Adriel says in his most reasonable voice, grinning slightly, “There’s no reason to see the same movie twice in a row."

 

"But I want to!"  She demands, pouting in an over-exaggerated manner.  Adriel chuckles and leans down to kiss her glossy pink lips fondly.  She's smiling as she starts to whine "but Cross, Tina and Megan are staying for the next showing. I wanna stay too!"

 

"But I have practice in the morning" Adriel whines back, trying not to laugh. He does spare a longingly glance at the glass doors that lead to the exit of the mall movie theater, light fully faded from the sky and the parking lot almost empty.

 

"Well I'm gonna stay," she says, even whinier, and Adriel pretends to throw a fit, fake foot stomping and all. A couple feet away, Sara's minions are rolling their eyes and scoffing in judgment, but Sara was in the middle of whining about something when Adriel asked her out the first time, so she answered in a whine, and it's been a game ever since.

 

"Well then I'll see you tomorrow,” Adriel replies, taking a couple steps away, towards the door.  Sara pouts as hard as she can, bottom lip quivering and big, sad blue eyes, pulling out all the stops in an effort to make him stay. They both know it won't work, because she may be stubborn, but not as stubborn as him.  As usual though when she pulls that face, Adriel can’t help grinning and stepping back in to kiss her again.  

 

Sara wraps her fingers possessively around his biceps as she kisses him back, and her nails dig into his skin slightly as he moves to pull away.  “I need to go,” Adriel says, getting enough distance between them to glance at the doors again.  He catches a glimpse of what might be a familiar mess of blond hair moving outside, and he just, he has to know.  He pulls away completely despite Sara’s death grip on his arm, distracted, saying “bye, Baby.”

 

“Ok, bye Cross,” she says, voice suddenly hard, probably rolling her eyes too by the tone, but Adriel is already walking away.  

 

He pushes out the doors and looks around quickly.  Sure enough, there’s Reno.  The boy is standing where the benches used to be, before they were taken out because kids kept writing on and spray painting them.  He’s staring down at his shoes like they might hold all the answers in the universe and smoking a cigarette with long drags.

 

Adriel walks right up to him, but Reno doesn't look up until he says “hey Reno.”  

 

Reno then jumps about three feet into the air and looks up at Adriel, a look that might be fear in his eyes and it disturbs Adriel far more than he’d care to admit.  Even more disturbing is the fact that it looks like Reno has very recently had the shit beaten out of him by someone much, much bigger than him.  Possibly multiple someones.  He has a black eye about ten times worse than Adriel could ever hope to give him, so bad that his eyebrow is busted and there’s a dark red scab over the corner.  His lip is split, a ring in the pierced hole instead of a stud to accommodate the swelling.  There’s also a deep black bruise on his jaw, slowly healing gash in the center.  

 

“What the fuck,” Adriel breathes, not even realizing he’s saying anything until it’s done.

 

“I know right,” Reno says with a rough laugh, “I’m fucking beautiful.” He takes another drag of his cigarette and Adriel watches the smoke drift back out of his mouth, thick white over his busted lips, while he debates asking the next question.

 

“What happened?” He finally asks, unable to resist.  Reno holds up one hand, all five fingers extended.  Adriel stares at Reno’s palm and then cocks his head to the side when Reno wiggles his fingers, not sure what he’s supposed to get from this.

 

“I plead the fifth,” Reno clarifies and drops his hand, gaze falling as well.

 

Adriel notices the back pack by Reno’s feet and says “give me the summary.”  Reno looks up at him again, green eyes fixed intently on Adriel’s own, making Adriel wonder if he shouldn't be pushing, he knows he doesn't really have the right to.  Reno seems to be considering this too, before his shoulders drop in a heavy sigh.

 

“Summary, I’m homeless,” He says, voice tight, staring at his own hands.  Adriel knows what he wants to say to that, knows that he hates the edge in Reno’s voice, the shadow in his eyes.

 

“Come stay with me,” Adriel offers, talking before thinking again.  He’s been doing that a lot around Reno.  He must have shocked Reno too; the boy is just staring at him, eyes wide and completely speechless. After several long moments of silence, in which Adriel fights the urge to shift his weight awkwardly and Reno continues to stare, Adriel adds “seriously.”

 

Reno blinks and a hesitant grin begins to spread across his face. “Are you sure?”

 

“Yeah,” Adriel says easily, like he has any idea what the fuck he’s doing.  “C’mon.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

_Wide eyed and hopeful._

_Wide eyed and hopefully wild._

 

 

When they get back to Adriel’s house, Reno follows him inside with a shyness that Adriel thinks is probably uncharacteristic. It’s pointless though, all the lights are already off, everyone in bed. He's glad that Reno seems to remember his way around, the boy doesn't trip over anything as they quietly make their way up the stairs.  They get to Adriel’s room and Reno throws himself on the couch, all hints of hesitation gone.

 

“Ah couch, my old friend,” Reno says, stretching lazily and then looking up with a half smile.  “Thank you,” he says seriously, eyes earnest.

 

Adriel waves it off, flushing slightly. “Don’t thank me yet, we have to confront my mom in the morning.”

 

“Your mom loves me,” Reno says dismissively, closing his eyes and settling back on the couch. Adriel tosses an extra pillow and blanket at him, grinning when the pillow smacks him in the face.  “Is this a transformers blanket?” Reno asks, unfolding the fabric with several hard shakes.

 

“Yeah,” Adriel says, now distracted digging through one of his dresser drawers, “do you need something to sleep in?”

 

“That would be wonderful,” Reno replies, still sounding amused by the blanket that Adriel has had since he was a kid.  Adriel turns and throws a pair of pajama pants at him, snickering when those hit Reno in the face too.  He  grabs a pair of pants for himself and heads into the bathroom.  

 

When he comes out Reno is already asleep, curled under the blanket with just messy golden hair sticking out the top, his clothes in a messy pile on the floor.

 

 

* * *

 

 

_Looking at the road that rises up ahead_

_I thought I'd learned a thing or two_

_But this is where it's all made new_

 

 

Adriel’s alarm goes off what feels like way too early in the morning.  He’s foggily groping around on his nightstand for the snooze button when a grumble from across the room startles him fully awake and his heart pounds wildly before he remembers the stray he picked up last night.

 

“Is it morning already?”  Reno asks, and Adriel can see him running his fingers through his hair before the boy sits up with a sleepy grumble.  “Breakfast?”

 

“Breakfast,” Adriel confirms, dragging himself out of bed.  He stumbles back over to his dresser and begins digging around in it.  “Need a shirt or anything?”

 

“Just a shirt,” Reno says, and Adriel hears the sounds of him climbing off the couch.  Adriel judges the distance and tosses a shirt over his shoulder.  “Sweet,” Reno mumbles and his footsteps head for the bathroom.  

 

Adriel looks up as the light flicks on and catches a glimpse of Reno’s back, dark bruises molted all down his tan skin.  Then the door shuts and Adriel shakes his head before pulling on his own shirt and changing into a pair of jeans.  He’s pulling his shoes on when Reno comes out of the bathroom in the jeans he was wearing the day before and Adriel’s shirt.

 

"What the fuck is a Cancerslug?" Reno asks, running a hand over the jagged white lettering on a shirt thats tight on Adriel but loose on the smaller boy.  

 

"I'll inflict it on you sometime," Adriel promises, distracted by the stubborn laces on his boots.

 

Reno opens his mouth with a confused look, but then he gets his first look at the clock and says “sweet fuck, what are we doing up this early?”

 

“Soccer practice,” Adriel says, smirking at his horror stricken face, “unless you want to walk the ten miles to school, you’re gonna have to ride in with me.”

 

“What fresh hell is this?”  Reno asks of the ceiling, hands held out, palms up like maybe he’s praying, a grin crawling across his face.

 

“Douche,” Adriel says, smiling wider.  “C’mon.”

 

Adriel’s mom is in the kitchen when they get downstairs, putting bread in the toaster and humming what Adriel knows to be showtunes softly to herself.  She turns when he hears them walk in and grins widely when she sees Reno.

 

“Reno!  When did you get-” She starts to ask, and then her smile drops when she obviously notices the state of his face.  “Oh Honey, what happened?”

 

“Oh, you know, life,” Reno says slowly, not meeting anyone’s eyes.

 

She opens her mouth, probably to ask more questions, but Adriel cuts her off by saying “he’s gonna stay here for a while, if that’s ok.”  She looks over at him, and he holds her gaze, hoping she’ll see how serious he is.  Adriel swears she can read his mind, he really does, and it might as well come in handy for once.

 

“Why don’t you go wake up your sister,” his mom suggests, her completely unsubtle way of getting him out of the room.  Adriel doesn’t know how he feels about leaving Reno alone with his mom and her mind reading powers, and by the look on Reno’s face he’s not too sure about it either.  

 

Maggie Cross always gets what she wants in the end though, so Adriel leaves without a fight and takes the stairs two at a time towards his little sister’s room.  Once she's up and dressed he pulls Abby up to sit on his shoulders and carries the giggling girl back to the kitchen.

 

Reno is sitting at the table eating a bowl of Lucky Charms, which is good.  No signs of bloodshed yet.  Abby doesn’t even pause at the sight of the stranger, just climbs into the chair next to him and pours cereal into the waiting bowl.

 

“Abby,” Maggie says, “this is Reno, he’s gonna stay with us for a while.” She announces it like it was her idea all along, and Adriel grins.

 

“I will seriously do anything you need me to,” Reno promises, huge, blinding smile spreading across his face. That's more like the smile Adriel remembers from New Years, the one he's realizing he hadn't seen yet.

 

“So you’re like a nanny?”  Abby asks, her mouth full, the ends of her black pigtails nearly hanging in her milk. Reno laughs.

 

“Yeah, I guess,” he says.  When her face lights up Reno quickly adds “don’t ever call me that.”  

 

Abby just continues to smile at him, and Adriel foresees a long battle over this. Surprisingly, he's looking forward to it.

 

As they're climbing into his car, Adriel says “I’m not responsible for any therapy you may require in later life."

 

Reno laughs again, and he already seems lighter than he had last night.  “I think your mom can read minds,” he says.  Adriel nods solemnly as he starts the car.

 

They pull into the school parking lot almost an hour before school begins.  Reno looks like he’s fallen mostly asleep again on the twenty minute drive, and he sits up with a start when the car shuts off and Tool is no longer playing.  He looks at the clock and groans.

 

“Damn,” Reno mutters and rubs his face, then jerks his hands back when he touches his bruises.  He twists his fingers together and laughs bitterly.  Adriel notices for the first time that his knuckles are heavily bruised and scraped as well, which makes sense, considering Adriel’s experience fighting Reno.  The kid doesn't back down.

 

"Can you do me a favor?”  Reno asks quietly, not looking up.  His fingers are white from how hard he’s clenching them, and Adriel can see the blush staining his cheeks even with the black eye.

 

“Sure,” Adriel says without a second thought.

 

“If you’re not busy after school, can you take me by my dad’s house before he gets home?  I need to grab some of my stuff.”  Reno is biting his lip, despite how much it must hurt with the split, and Adriel answers quickly so maybe he’ll stop.

 

“Yeah, meet me here after the bell.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

_I'm gonna take you there, my friend_

_I'm gonna show you where your life will end_

_I'm gonna bring you here again_

 

 

After the final bell rings, Adriel hurries out to his car to meet Reno.  Best he can figure, Reno’s dad is the one who beat him to hell and back, he just can’t imagine why.

 

He had already told Sara at lunch that he had to run off after school, he just hadn't specified why.  He doesn't really think Reno’s business is any of her business, and she had been more interested in trying to tell him about re-watching the movie last night anyways.

 

He gets to his car and leans against the hood, looking around the crowded parking lot for any hint of Reno’s wild hair.

 

“Hey Cross!”  Someone calls and Adriel turns to see Jackson and Spencer in Spencer’s big black pick up. “I’m pretty sure I saw Sara heading towards the library,” Jackson calls to him.

 

“I’m not waiting for her,” Adriel replies and Spencer replies with a loud whistle.

 

“Way to play the field!” Spencer yells and both guys laugh.

 

“Not like that,” Adriel says, rolling his eyes. Neither of them listen though, merely speed off cackling wildly to each other. Adriel shakes his head with a sigh. Hopefully Sara doesn't hear some stupid rumor along those lines. He'll have hell to pay, and he’ll have to kill his teammates. Not that they would ever try to cause him problems, but its a crowded parking lot and for some ungodly reason, everyone seems to know him.

 

Half an hour after school let out Reno still hasn't shown up and Adriel’s getting kind of impatient. If only because if Sara or any of her goonies see him just chilling here still, there will be Questions.  And he's awful at thinking on the spot. He checks his watch and growls to himself as another minute ticks by.

 

“Um, Adriel?” An unknown voice says, and once again the use of his real name startles him. Adriel turns to see Amy walking hesitantly up to him.  She’s cut her hair since the last time Adriel saw her, that party where he first fought Reno. She looks so nervous that Adriel almost wants to laugh, but he doesn't think that’ll help much.

 

He smiles and tries to look as nonthreatening as possible as he says “hey, um, Amy.  What’s up?”

 

She blushes bright red, obviously not expecting him to have known her name. Adriel’s smile widens. He loves blushing girls, it’s a weakness. "Um, Reno wanted me to come tell you that, he got held after class, so, um, you don’t have to wait…”  She only blushes harder as she talks, and Adriel smiles bigger.

 

“Yeah! Get freaky with it, Cross!” Spencer yells as him and Jackson zoom by again out of nowhere, and Amy jumps, squeaking.

 

Adriel rolls his eyes and sighs before screaming after them "why are you even still here?!"  He can't be sure, but he thinks he hears them laughing as they continue driving laps around the parking lot. Adriel turns back to Amy and is opening his mouth to say something hopefully comforting when Reno pops up next to them.

 

"You have weird friends," he says by way of greeting, though he's staring resolutely at the ground.

 

"You _are_ my weird friend," Adriel shoots back instantly, and is rewarded when Reno half-smiles at his shoes.

 

"Sorry I took so long, counselor wanted to talk about my face.” Reno mutters.

 

“Because it’s so nice,” Adriel says understandingly, and it startles a laugh out of Amy, but Reno still doesn’t look up.

 

“Can you maybe still take me by my dad's?" Reno asks quietly, and he's twisting his fingers together again.

 

"That's why I'm here," Adriel says lightly, grinning because he has absolutely no idea how to act in awkward situations. He turns to Amy again, not surprised to find her staring at Reno with worry written all over her face.  "Do you need a ride home too?" He asks her, and she jumps slightly before nodding. "Super," Adriel mutters to himself as the two climb silently into his car.  This is sure to be a fun trip.

 

As he suspected, the ride is totally silent except for Reno giving directions in a rough voice.  When they pull up in front of a single story house not far from the school, Reno takes a deep breath like he's psyching himself up.

 

"Okay," he says with a heavy sigh, grabbing the door handle like he's preparing to go to war, "I'll be right back."

 

Reno hurls himself out of the car like he's afraid he'll run out of courage, which is just, ridiculous.  Adriel may not have known him for long, but scared isn't something he's ever expected from Reno. Not fifteen minutes later he's throwing a duffel bag and an extra backpack into the trunk and climbing back into the passenger seat.

 

Reno doesn't say a single word as they pull away from the house, just turns the radio way up, The Misfits screaming at them loud enough that moms give them strange looks from the sidewalk as they drop Amy off a couple houses down.  She just gives Reno’s back a concerned stare, reaches up to squeeze his shoulder, and then climbs out of the car, disappearing into her house.

 

Reno still doesn’t say anything.

 

 

* * *

 

 

_Somewhere between happy,_

_and total fucking wreck_

_Feet sometimes on solid ground,_

_sometimes at the edge_

 

 

The first week is awkward. Kind of. It definitely has it's awkward moments.

 

Adriel doesn't even know if him and Reno will actually get along, at the beginning. One drunken night hanging out isn't enough to judge by, especially considering that the first time they met they were fighting.

 

Reno spends the first couple days walking on eggshells and being over the top polite, like he’s expecting to be booted back out at any second.  He never says why his dad kicked him out, and the one time Adriel tries to ask Reno starts insulting his CD collection, which quickly changes the subject.

 

Somehow though, they get along without really trying, and it just kind of works.They agree on a couple of bands, but Reno doesn't like any of the harder punk, and Adriel can’t stand Reno’s techno shit. They spend most of their time playing video games, when they're not doing their respective homework, and talking constant shit to each other. Adriel finally cleans out the three junk drawers in his dresser, and it's only a little weird when Reno fills them with baggy jeans and snarky t-shirts and the random assortment of things he grabbed to bring with him, like a refugee.

 

Reno smokes his cigarettes on the back porch after everyone else is asleep, and sometimes Adriel will sit outside with him.

 

“You still dating that girl?” Reno asks one such night, sprawled comfortably in one of the deck chairs and ashing into an empty coke can.

 

“The bitch?” Adriel asks, throwing a smirk at Reno, who pouts in response.  “Yeah, I am,” Adriel says.  He's kicking a soccer ball lazily from foot to foot, made difficult by the uneven boards of the porch.

 

“How come you haven’t seen her this week?”

 

“I see her at school,” Adriel says with a shrug, “she spends more time with her friends, which is fine with me, gets all her bitching, gossip, and whatnot out with them.”

 

“How fondly you speak of her,” Reno laughs, momentarily hidden by a cloud of exhaled smoke.

 

“Light of my life, she is,” Adriel says with as much sarcasm a he can.  Reno laughs harder, and Adriel kicks the ball so it bounces off the boy's knee. “I’m actually going out with her tomorrow. Friday night and all that. Did you have plans, need me to drop you off somewhere?”

 

Reno chews on his lip ring for a moment before replying, “Amy was gonna pick me up for a party, if that's...” he trails off and bites his lip again, twisting his fingers together. It didn't take long to figure out that particular nervous habit.

 

“That’s fine,” Adriel says quickly, smiles wide to wipe the unsure look off Reno’s face.  “Just don’t wake anyone up when you get back.  And don’t come home too drunk.”

 

“So, no repeat of New Years?” Reno asks, smiling again.  “I shouldn't bring a shwasted boy home with me then, either?”

 

“You better not,” Adriel says with a grin, kicking the ball at Reno again, “I’m the jealous type, ya know.”

 

“Well I’d hate to start a fight,” Reno says magnanimously, putting out his cigarette.

 

“No you wouldn't,” Adriel snickers, and Reno kicks the ball back at him, laughing.

 

 

* * *

 

 

_Though a stranger,_

_You can rest here for a while._

_But save your energy,_

_Your journey here is far from over._

 

 

Reno gets back from whatever party he went to at four o’clock Saturday morning, while Adriel is half asleep playing Halo, and he’s not drunk, but he’s high as fuck.

 

Reno closes the door behind him and then asks, “what the fuck is this shit,” in an exaggerated whisper that’s basically normal speaking volume.

 

“The game or the music?” Adriel asks lazily, and Reno giggles, honest to God giggles, his eyes big and glassy.

 

“I know what Halo is, Ass. I’m talking about this noise assaulting my eardrums,” Reno says, dropping the fake whisper. He stumbles across the room, kicking off his shoes as he goes, and collapses on the floor beside the couch.

 

“You don’t like Dead Kennedys?” Adriel asks innocently, blinking down at Reno.

 

“I do not like them, Sam I Am,” Reno replies, his face the picture of seriousness.

 

"Well I would hate to offend your delicate sensibilities," Adriel says, attention back on his game, but he hears Reno snort in laughter, "so I suppose you can go ahead and change it, Buttercup."

 

"Oh thank you kind sir," Reno says, waving an arm gallantly, and then passes out between one breath and the next.

 

Adriel glances down at him, laughing, and thinks yeah, this can definitely work.

 

 

* * *

 

 

_Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac_

_Yeah, the boy's a time bomb_

 

 

On Monday Adriel finds Reno smoking a cigarette behind the band hall during first period. "You rebel," Adriel says and Reno's head snaps up to look at him before the boy grins.

 

"I do what I can," he replies, taking a long drag off the cigarette. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

 

"Ignoring the hypocrisy in that statement," Adriel says grandly, and Reno snickers, "I have soccer first period, and practice let out early. What's your excuse?"

 

"None, I'm just hiding out."

 

"Don't you ever get caught back here?" Adriel asks curiously.

 

"Nah," Reno says easily, "no one wants to come around here while the band is practicing." As if to prove this point, a truly awful noise echos out of the band hall, like someone is murdering a trumpet section.

 

"Well then don't mind if I do," Adriel says and drops down to sit beside Reno, leaning back against the stone wall.

 

"You really don't mind the smell?" Reno asks even as he flails one hand around, trying to wave the lingering smoke away from their faces.

 

It's a question he's asked several times before, so Adriel finally admits "my mom used to smoke, before Abby.  It reminds me of back then."

 

"No way!" Reno says, gasping and then choking a little when he inhales old smoke. "I just can't picture it," he continues, laughing and coughing at the same time.

 

They hadn't spent any time together that weekend, really, aside from the two minutes Saturday morning before Reno had fallen asleep on the floor.  He had still been there, one arm thrown over his eyes and the other curled around the pillow Adriel had tried to wedge under his head, when Adriel left. Between soccer games and hanging out with his teammates, Adriel had hardly been home, and Reno had spent all Sunday with Amy anyways.

 

It had actually been a little weird, not seeing him.  Its also weird that Adriel is just now realizing it, watching Reno try and fail to breath properly between his laughter.

 

"Don't tell her I told you, she'll kill me," he says, because _I missed your face_ might be weird.

 

"I believe it," Reno says and starts laughing all over again. It's a good minute before he quiets down, and by the end Adriel is laughing too.

 

"So what are you doing after school?" Adriel asks, stretching his legs out in front of him and knocking the toes of his combat boots together.

 

"Not doing my English essay, I can tell you that," Reno says breezily, and then suddenly he gets that unsure look on his face again. "Why? Did you need me to do something? I can babysit Abby, or, like, clean shit," Reno starts, all traces of laughter gone from his voice and his eyes fixed on his hands in his lap, fingers twitching like he's about to start twisting them together again.

 

Adriel reaches over without thinking about it, grabs both of Reno's hands in one of his own and says "dude, just stop." Reno looks up at him with wide eyes, and Adriel says "stop apologizing, stop trying to steal dirty dishes out of my mom's hands. Its okay, seriously. We're friends, I'm just trying to help you out."

 

"Are we friends?" Reno asks skeptically, raising his pierced eyebrow.

 

"What, you think you're too cool for me?" Adriel asks, grabbing his chest dramatically, trying to hide the fact that maybe he's a little hurt. Maybe.

 

Reno stares at him for a second, like he's shocked, then bursts out laughing. "Yeah, that's what I think," he says sarcastically, grinning.

 

"Ow, my feelings," Adriel mutters, and Reno starts laughing harder.

 

"Yeah, man, we're friends. Best friends forever, if I recall correctly," Reno says once he can talk again.

 

"Damn straight," Adriel sniffs, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.

 

"Just," he trails off, chewing his lip ring for a minute, "just promise you'll give me a heads up if y'all get tired of me hanging around."

 

"Do you have anywhere else to go?" Adriel asks, hoping Reno doesn't take it the wrong way.

 

He just shrugs easily and says "I still need to call Dallas, honestly."

 

"They city?"

 

"My brother," Reno says, snorting with laughter at Adriel's confused face, "he has an apartment downtown."

 

"Dallas, Reno, I'm sensing a pattern here," Adriel says. He's a little surprised to realize the thought of Reno leaving bums him out, but decides to ignore it in favor of making fun of other people’s names. Its not something he gets to do very often.

 

"My little brother is named Nashville," Reno offers.

 

"Wow, I feel way better about ‘Adriel’ now."

 

"Glad I could help, though I still think that’s worse," Reno chuckles, stretching his legs out and stubbing out his cigarette, tucking the butt into the pocket of his jacket.

 

"So, tonight," Adriel says, kicking Reno's foot lightly, "not doing your essay, not breaking your back with housework, wanna join me for a Saw marathon?"

 

Reno makes a face and asks "for mocking purposes?"

 

"Obviously."

 

"Then hell yeah," Reno says with a smile, kicking him back.

 

 

* * *

 

 

_I am not afraid of life_

_Of an insane rage_

_Of the minimum wage_

 

 

A couple days later, Reno walks out of the bathroom without a shirt on for the first time.  Adriel is sitting on the couch playing Prototype, and when he catches a glimpse of Reno out of the corner of his eye he doesn't even pause the game when he turns to stare.

 

“Damn,” Adriel says, and Reno’s hand flies up to self-consciously cover the fading bruise on his ribs, but that’s not what he's looking at.  “That’s some serious ink, Kid,” He mutters, hypnotized.

 

Reno laughs, and his hand drops from the bruise to run over the solar system tattooed across his lower stomach, the Sun huge below his rib cage and the planets curving to his other side between his low slung pants and his belly button. “Only way my dad could convince me to get good grades, bribe me with a new planet for each all A report card.”

 

“When did you start?” Adriel asks, motioning with a hand wave for Reno to come closer, not even able to look away for the sound of his character dying horribly on the TV.

 

“Freshman year, Dallas was already doing tattoos, so it was convenient.  The wings were my first,” Reno says, rubbing the tattoo on the back of his neck. By this point he's standing right in front of the couch, and Adriel has to try so hard not to touch. That would probably make this weird. Instead, he mentally calculates tattoos against semesters.

 

“Run out of planets, or good grades?” He asks.

 

“After the planets, I moved on to this,” Reno says, sounding amused, and Adriel’s eyes follow his hand up to his shoulder, to the gray scale spiral cloud. “Got a thing for tattoos?” Reno teases.

 

Adriel looks up at Reno’s face, smart reply ready, but his eyes catch a flash of silver on the way and instead he says “you have your nipples pierced, that’s naughty.” He feels a suggestive grin spread across his face without his consent, and Reno’s eyes widen.  Then he blushes.  Oh hell, Adriel thinks, and the impulse to touch takes over. He places his fingertips in the center of the sun, then traces down the planets, amused that he can still rattle them off in his head.  Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, on Jupiter Adriel pauses to trace a finger around the red storm cloud.  Reno’s skin twitches, and Adriel yanks his hand away, looking up at him.

 

Reno’s face is redder than before, and his voice is oddly soft when he says, “sorry, ticklish.”  It’s disorienting to look up at the shorter boy, and Adriel’s fingers are still tingling with the new sensation of tattooed skin.  Even as he tells himself to stop, Adriel is placing his fingers on Reno’s other side.

 

He smiles at Pluto, smaller than the tip of his pinkie, and says “not a planet my ass.”  Reno snickers, and Adriel lets himself start tracing the planets backwards. Saturn’s rings stretch from up by Reno’s navel to disappear below the line of his pants, and they’re the perfect width for Adriel to trace them with his fingertips, hypnotized by the subtle differences in the texture of tattooed skin.

 

“Um,” Reno says, voice shaky, “stop.”  Adriel blinks, realizes that he's been so transfixed by the barely there feel of the ink he'd almost stuck his fingers right down the front of Reno's already low slung pants.

 

Adriel jerks his hand away quickly and says “Sorry, impulsive.  I've never felt tattoos before.”  

 

Reno lets out a deep breath, chin dropped down so his shaggy hair hides his face.  He moves, and Adriel is momentarily scared he’s gonna leave, that he somehow scared Reno off, but the younger boy only drops onto the couch next to him and flashes him a grin.  The color is nearly gone from his cheeks, and Adriel almost misses it.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Reno says easily, “I know I’m irresistible.” He sprawls out against the armrest and kicks Adriel in the thigh as he says “put in Borderlands, lets shoot some midgets.”

 

“Don’t boss me around, I’ll shoot you, Shorty,” Adriel says, but he puts in the game and they play until they pass out on the couch.  Reno doesn't put a shirt on.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please excuse any mistakes, I don't yet have a beta reader.
> 
> Lyrics from this part:  
> -Million Days, Bad Religion  
> -Parabol, Tool  
> -Clevermind, Poets of the Fall  
> -Pumpkinhead, Misfits  
> -Survive, Rise Against  
> -Green Valley, Puscifer  
> -Time Bomb, Rancid  
> -I'm Not Afraid of Life, Ramones


End file.
